FBME BANK STILL UNDER BANK OF TANZANIA'S SUPERVISION

Dar es Salaam, Wednesday, February 18 2015. The FBME Bank is still under close supervision of the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) as Mr Lawrence Mafuru remains its statutory manager despite his recent appointment to the post of the Treasury Registrar.

The BoT’s director of Banking Supervision, Mr Agapiti Kobelo, told The Citizen yesterday that the FBME was still under the central bank’s supervision, pending investigations over allegations of being a financial institution of primary money laundering concern.

In July last year, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the US Treasury said that FBME had facilitated a “substantial volume” of money laundering through the bank for many years and had systemic failures in its controls.

Following the allegations, and after the Bank of Cyrus moved to take over control of FBME Bank there, the BoT decided – in July last year - to take over the management of four branches of FBME in Tanzania and appointed Mr Mafuru as the statutory manager with the mandate of handling all matters pertaining to the bank. On December 11, 2014, Chief Secretary Ombeni Sefue said in a statement that President Jakaya Kikwete had appointed Mr Mafuru as Treasury Registrar – an appointment that came into effect on November 5.

But Mr Kobelo said yesterday that nothing had changed since then: “Mr Mafuru is still managing the bank on behalf of the BoT. He will be there until a final decision on the allegations is made,” he said.

In July last year FinCEN said FBME had facilitated a “substantial volume” of money laundering through the bank for many years and had systemic failures in its controls.

Although the bank is headquartered in Tanzania, most of its activities are carried out through its Cypriot branches, FinCEN said. The bank is co-owned by Ayoub Farid Saab (50 per cent) and F M Saab (50 per cent) and has branches in Cyprus and Tanzania and an office in Moscow.

The Citizen